So how is it, with advanced navigational systems, that a 29,000-ton container ship the size of 2½ football fields could collide with a 500-foot U.S. Navy Destroyer in open water?
The US Navy's top commander visited Japan Tuesday to meet the grieving families of seven sailors killed in a weekend accident, as investigators probe questions over the timing of the collision with a container ship.
Junichi Kanegae, a board member of the Japan Captains' Association, said that while that might seem like a long delay, the crew of the Crystal probably would have reported to the captain and contacted the Fitzgerald before reporting the incident to the Japanese Coast Guard.
Multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations are under way on how a ship as large as the container could collide with the smaller warship in clear weather said coastguard spokesman Takeshi Aikawa.
Coast guard official Tetsuya Tanaka said authorities are trying resolve what happened during the disputed 50 or so minutes.
He said officials are planning to get hold of a device with communication records to examine further details of the crash. Ron Flanders, spokesman for U.S. Naval Forces in Japan.
On Saturday, both the US Navy and the Japanese Coast Guard said the accident occurred at 2.20am, leading to some experts theorizing that the series of unusual turns performed by the Crystal before that time may have caused the accident.
Nanami Meguro, a spokeswoman for owners NYK Line told CBS News that one reason why the Crystal did not report the accident when it first happened was because it was all hands on deck.
Marine tracking data showed the Crystal steaming west toward Tokyo, but shortly after 1:30 a.m.it performed a sudden U-turn and returned to where it had been.
And while the US Navy faces embarrassing questions over how one of their advanced $1.5bn warships was struck in near ideal visibility, it emerged that American officials are claiming the collision occurred almost one hour after the Japanese Coast Guard say it did.
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'Because it was in an emergency, the crewmembers may not have been able to place a call, ' she said. He was thrilled to return in 2014, reporting for duty to USS Fitzgerald.
The Japan-based 7th Fleet identified the victims on Monday as Gunner's Mate Seaman Dakota Kyle Rigsby, 19, from Palmyra, Virginia; Yeoman 3rd Class Shingo Alexander Douglass, 25, from San Diego, California; Sonar Technician 3rd Class Ngoc T Truong Huynh, 25, from Oakville, Connecticut; Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Noe Hernandez, 26, from Weslaco, Texas; Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlosvictor Ganzon Sibayan, 23, from Chula Vista, California; Personnel Specialist 1st Class Xavier Alec Martin, 24, from Halethorpe, Maryland; and Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Leo Rehm Jr., 37, from Elyria, Ohio.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump and the entire administration was sending their thoughts and prayers to the sailors' families.
"Their deaths while on patrol in the Western Pacific are a sobering reminder of the dangers that the men and women of our military face every day", he said. They said he was very tightly bonded to his shipmates.
"We are checking what happened during the time and why the report was delayed", he added.
Investigators are sure to put the vessels' trackable movements under a microscope to figure out what set the deadly crash in motion, said Shoji Fujimoto, a maritime safety expert at Japan's Kobe University.
She described her brother as "selfless" and said he always "had the brightest smile".
"She said she wasn't leaving the ship until they found him", Joan Braniff said.
Mia Sykes of Raleigh, North Carolina, told The Associated Press on Sunday that her 19-year-old son, Brayden Harden, was knocked out of his bunk by the impact and water immediately began filling the berth.
"A significant part of the crew was sleeping", he told reporters.
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